Merry Thirday of Christmas

Today is officially the Third Day of Christmas, as we like to use the Norwegian system of tracking this holiday season.  It’s way more fun to stretch out the festivities twelve days after the initial blast of Christmas Eve.  It keeps the “day after” blues away and provides a slower pace in which to bring in the New Year.  We’ve scheduled lots of get togethers and time with friends during this week, just like they do in Norway.  No one is ever busy AFTER Christmas here, so it makes it easier to get together, which is a plus.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and First and Second Day of Christmas with friends.  I was maintaining my “no stress” gift to God for his present this year, right up until the bitter end.  We had two families up for a big dinner on Christmas Eve, Santa came for his usual visit just after dinner (see photo) and passed out gifts, and the kids had fun playing all evening while the adults visited.  After everyone left and Kaleb went to bed, I had a few bows to get on presents for Kaleb, and for some reason, I couldn’t find the Mario Cart Wii game I bought for him.  My stress level skyrocketed.  I was up until 2:30am tearing apart closets (which have yet to be restored), looking for that darn game.  I knew I had it at one point but when I was checking the gifts under the tree, I didn’t see it, so I panicked.  Kory went to bed without me as I continued my frantic search.  

I finally decided to put an IOU under the tree because that was one of his more expensive gifts and I knew he’d be disappointed if he didn’t it.  I went to bed but I didn’t sleep well, trying to figure out where that game could be.  As we started unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning, I was as surprised as Kaleb when he opened up that darn Wii game!  I’d already wrapped it!  Talk about forgetful!  Yikes. For some reason, I was thinking it was in a flat box, as thick as a DVD, so I couldn’t spot it, but it came with a steering wheel, so it was in a huge box and that’s apparently why I couldn’t find it! Ugh.  I was so glad he didn’t have to get an IOU, but then I was mad at myself for unraveling at the end of my month long stint of NO STRESS!  Sorry, God!

It’s a good thing I was in high spirits anyway because just before Christmas we found out Kory’s stents are working 100%.  Hallelujah for that!  The reason he is getting angina is because of a small, insignificant artery they can’t even stent if they wanted to, and with exercise, the angina will eventually just go away.  So Kory got the word that he is to exercise as much as he wants and he has no restrictions on anything.  He’s pretty excited about that news, as we all are celebrating his new lease on life.  Whew.  I’m still adjusting to the thought there is no by-pass in his immediately (or hopefully distant) future and we can make all the plans we want, so 2011 is looking good!  We know we are blessed.

Christmas Celebrations

My lack of stress might bite me in the butt the day before Christmas, as things are still just humming along in our household and I’m rolling with the punches.  Many things aren’t getting done as usual, but my “Oh, well!” attitude works just fine.  I refuse to take back the gift of NO STRESS I’m giving God during this Advent season.  I got the last of my Christmas cards out today.  I hope they all make it in time, but if not, oh well!

Kory had two days worth of tests to see why he’s still getting angina.  I’m trying not to get angina waiting for the reports to come back.  I think the doctor must be off on vacation or something as we haven’t heard a word.  Life goes on.  But today we did get good news about the 11 year old daughter of a friend of ours who had a cancerous tumor removed from behind her ear – her tests came back with a good report that the cancer hadn’t spread.  There were many HALLELUJAHs after that bit of news. 

This past week has been full of celebrations and activities and time at my computer has been limited.  We had a little kick-off party for a Bible study I’m going to attend after the first of the year, with Grammy J at the helm (see photo of 4 out of the 5 of us lovin' on her.)  I’m more excited about getting together with that group of women than I have been about anything for a long time.  Twice a month we’ll be soaking in God’s presence and His word – Hallelujah!   

Friday we attended Bethany Covenant Church’s Christmas musical – which was outstanding in all ways.  What a blessing to be part of a church with so much talent.  Saturday Kory and I went to separate parties – he to a gathering with fellow Avanti lovers (he’s joined an Avanti club recently), and I attended a gathering of some old high school classmates (I failed to attend our 35^th reunion this summer so my guilt got the better of me.)  Kaleb stayed the night with a friend while Kory and I were as social as we could be.  

Sunday was a big day not just for us, but for many families in the Skagit Valley.  A woman in our home fellowship group found out about an organization in the Northwest that doesn’t just need money to buy food for starving kids in Africa, they need help assembling the food packets as well.  We were looking for a project to do with our kids to get them involved in missions, and this was just the ticket.  We raised money for the past three months (Kaleb contributed exactly $300 of his earnings), and all totaled, over $32,000 came in from churches, organizations and individuals, which bought over 130,000 meals, which all got packaged up in about three hours on Sunday with 486 volunteers working as fast as they could (see other photo!)  It was quite the process and a great bonding moment for many.  The third world countries the food goes to won’t allow the raw food to be shipped in since it might affect the price of rice, etc., so they must be packaged before shipment.  The packets contained lentils, spices, a chicken broth/protein powder mix and rice. Kaleb took a lot of ownership around the event and did 10 of the 11 possible jobs that day and was pumped when it was done.  We’re not sure if it will be an annual event or not, but it was fun while it lasted.

Yesterday we had our traditional downtown Seattle day so we were gone all day.  We brought along a friend of Kaleb’s so that made it a bit more special.  His friend put some perspective to the day when he was thrilled just to be able to ride an escalator.  Kaleb has no idea how lucky he is.  We took the monorail into downtown and had a photo with Santa, rode the carousel at Westlake Center, spent time at the downtown library, watched the trains at the Center house and the snow inside Pacific Place.  We saw the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton and the Teddy Bear room at the Four Seasons.  I even did some last minute shopping (with no stress or lines!) and on the way home we stopped in Ballard to see a neighborhood full of Christmas lights.  I loved the whole day, but Kaleb was starting to act a bit bored with the routine.  Can’t wait for his teenage years.

Today Kory and Kaleb went skiing up at Mt. Baker with another friend of Kaleb's and the youth group t our church. I stayed home and didn’t stress about a thing.  I got a few packages wrapped, went to a prayer meeting and did some banking.  The list of things needing to be done is so long, if I think about it I’ll get stressed so I best stop here while the smile is still on my face from thinking about all the fun I’ve had this past week.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good rest.

The Best Christmas Ever

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this holiday season with my new philosophy guiding my every word and deed.  I’ve purposed to give God the biggest gift of all by ME not stressing out about anything.  It’s worked wonders!  Each day I’ve remained calm and I haven’t raised my voice once.  I’ve spoken kind words and reacted with a level head.  I’ve not run around like a crazy woman doing too many things, yet all the things I normally do are somehow getting done, even at my slower pace.  It’s like I’ve entered some kind of weird time/space dimension.  I like it, and I’m trusting God is up in heaven smiling.  I know Kory and Kaleb have enjoyed the “new me” as much as anyone.

This past week Kaleb turned 12.  This was his first year to ever have a real birthday party on his birthday.  I normally avoid that because it’s a busy time of year and getting kids together is nearly impossible, let alone adding one more thing to my to-do list,  but as it worked out, he just wanted pizza and cake at a local laser tag/go-kart place and it couldn’t have been any easier.  The night before, I could hardly sleep as my mind kept racing over the details and all I could come up with was that I was supposed to pick up a pizza and cake sometime before 6pm.  How was that possible?  What have I been doing to myself this last decade by having lavish parties that take months to plan and super human strength to execute?  I’m so done with that, well, maybe.

Kaleb enjoyed his birthday on every level.  He mostly loved that he was free from school for three days so he could celebrate it.  On Monday we had the neighbors over for our traditional soup lunch.  We are blessed to have such great neighbors.  Tuesday, Grammy J took him to the Space Needle for lunch (see photo). He was a little worried about making conversation with her without us around, but he did just fine.  She’s a class act and came prepared with all kinds of conversation starters.  They both had a great time.  And that evening was his party with his buddies (see other photo), so he made out.  Two of his friends came over to spend the night so the party went right on into Wednesday as the kids played all day together.  I love that about homeschooling, we can just call a day off when we want.

I’ve had the usual crazy busy weekly schedule and still managed to fit in his birthday, Christmas baking, design and print the Christmas cards, wrap gifts, write the Christmas newsletter, celebrate Christmas with my step-mom and brother and host a party for one of our home fellowship groups.  I haven’t slept much, but I haven’t been stressed out either, so it’s all worked out okay.

Kory went for his treadmill test on Friday.  They put the blood pressure thing on his left arm so he was unable to feel if he got any angina when he was running on the treadmill.  He went way past what they expected and they said he passed with flying colors.  When the technician injected him with the nuclear dye so they could photograph his heart, she made a mistake and the dye went into his tissue, not his vein, so they had to stop the whole thing and reschedule.  They apologized profusely and said he wouldn’t be charged for it, so now he has to go back this Wednesday and do the whole thing over again.  I haven’t seen him glowing in the dark yet so I trust their mistake wasn’t a bad one.

As I was wrapping gifts on Sunday I turned on a Canadian TV station just to have something to listen to.  It was some show where people present their ideas and then a panel of rich people decide if they want to invest in them or not.  I could not believe my ears when I heard a guy present his invention – and it was exactly the same as something Kaleb invented when he was eight years old!  Kaleb called his the “reticulator.”  He said you take a small stream of electricity, run it through some magnetic coils and the electrons would spin off and create a bigger stream of energy out the other end.  We just laughed about it behind his back, but I’ll be darned if some guy didn’t make it work, get a patent for it and is now a millionaire – and it’s exactly as Kaleb had designed!  I had videoed Kaleb describing it in 2008 and he has notebooks full of drawings he’s done to show his design.  He wasn’t happy that someone beat him to it.  Kory and I usually just roll our eyes when Kaleb goes on and on about these crazy ideas of his, but now apparently, we need to pay closer attention.  Yikes.  

That's My Boy! (After only 11 months of lessons!)

Heart Felt Christmas Preparations

This week I’ve been enjoying the emphasis I’ve put on this holiday season.  I’ve been focusing each day on giving God an Advent gift by being kinder to others.  I was doing pretty well on responding with love and kindness to Kory and Kaleb, until yesterday.  Kaleb pitches a fit at times when things don’t go his way.  His explosion of anger is contagious so I usually respond in kind.  He gets a consequence for his outbursts, but I realized yesterday, I don’t.  Of course, I have to ask for forgiveness, but I know my behavior grieves God as much as Kaleb’s behavior grieves me.  I was humbled.  Motherhood has definitely impacted my spiritual life.

I’ve been waking up each day with the words of my friend, JaRon, going over and over in my head, “Now, what you goin’ and worryin’ about tomorrow for?  None of us have tomorrow. All we have is today!” She said those words when she knew her days were numbered.  Each day since then, I’ve been focused on just being thankful for this day, because truly, it’s all we have.  This whole thing with Kory’s heart has made me even more aware that life should be lived just one day at a time, and rather than occupying my mind with all the “what ifs,” I’m just thankful each day that today is a good day.  The Bible says we are to be anxious for nothing, and that God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear, so I just don’t go there.  I know whatever direction God leads, He’ll be there with us all the way and it’s during our times of having to rely on our faith that we get to know God all the more. He loves me more than I can ever know but it’s times like this where I get to see just how that plays out.  As I wrote to my step-mom this week, “It would be a very scary time if I didn’t have my Jesus.”  But thankfully, we are at peace.

Kory saw the cardiologist this week and he was “very disappointed” Kory still has angina pain.  Something is obviously not right, he agreed.  It could be a clot forming, but he didn’t think so because Kory is on blood thinners.  It could be an artery collapsed just outside the edge of the stent, but he didn’t think that was it either because of where he placed the stents.  I could be another artery that needs stenting – he said he saw one that was somewhat clogged but was sure it wasn’t vital.  It could be, as he hopes, a problem with Kory’s esophagus.  He said spasms in the esophagus can sometimes cause angina pain and perhaps Kory had that problem all along.  Who knows.  He will have a stress test next Friday to see how the blood is flowing in his heart to help determine where the problem lies.

Personally, I feel like we had a genuine miracle with the stents even being able to be put in last month.  Whenever I’ve seen miracles, I see that Satan tries to steal the blessing, so my secret desire is that the angina is just a phantom symptom trying to get Kory to doubt he was healed and that they will find nothing wrong, but that’s just my ever optimist self wanting the best in a situation.  Of course, the logical course of action now is that he will need bypass surgery if somehow the main artery is indeed blocked, but I’m not even thinking about all that until I see what God does between now and Friday.  We are praying for another miracle, but we know God has a plan and He is in control, no matter what happens.

Kory hasn’t given any of this much thought at all since he’s been obsessed with painting watercolors.  He has done ten paintings of the same scene in an effort to try to control the colors and image.  He’s not been to bed before midnight all week, often up til 2am just sitting in the basement painting.  I’ve never seen him so dedicated to any project in his life.  I bought him some professional quality paints for his birthday, but he doesn’t want to use them until he feels more comfortable with his craft.

I was in LaConner this week and stopped by the Norwegian bakery there to talk to Linda, the owner.  She’s a big fan of my column and loves to talk about Norway.  I told her about Kory’s line drawings and his watercolors so she asked if she could sell some of his work in her store.  She said people are always coming in and wanting to buy something other than the baked goods, so I took her some cards I made and some 11x14 enlargements of his prints of Norway and she now has them for sale.  Kory is still shocked that people like his stuff so well.  I’m sure we won’t get rich on it, but it’s nice he has something to do that is easier on his body than carpentry.  I’m already out of wall space in our house so I’m not sure where we will hang his work, but it’s certainly frame-able and worthy of display.

We finally got the tree decorated last night and the rest of the house prepared for Christmas.  I’ve yet to finish the Christmas newsletter or get the cards printed (I had to make them myself this year because Kory was too busy with his own creations.)  I’m taking things at a much slower pace though so I’m not in a rush. 

Kaleb is looking forward to his birthday next week, but I haven’t done much to prepare for that either, so I hope he’s not disappointed.  It’s hard to keep him focused on school work with the hub-ub of the holidays and his birthday thrown in there.  He finished a big mid-term test for his Johns Hopkins Honors Chemistry this week and he didn’t do so well.  He’d been pulling a 93% in the class and studied well for the midterm, but didn’t finish taking the test before we took a break for Thanksgiving, so when he finished it up this week, his mind was on other things (like his upcoming birthday).  He got a 70% which really disappointed him and his teacher.  It lowered his overall grade down to 81%.  Johns Hopkins flunks students if they are under 85% so he has to be very intentional the second half of this course if he’s going to make it.  I felt horrible for him because on one hand, the stuff he is studying is way beyond anything I am capable of, and certainly light years ahead of kids his age, so the fact he missed half a point here and there on the test seemed so cruel.  He got 2.5 out of 3 points on many questions, meaning he understood the concept but failed to write some little fact, so he got dinged.  I am so impressed that he could even answer questions like “Why do the crystal lattice formations of ionic compounds shatter when struck in a particular way?”  or “What is the difference between atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals?”  How about – “What are the three principle types of intermolecular forces?” or “Give an example of a triprotic acid.”  He just rattles these answers off like some little professor.  Why he loves this stuff is beyond me.  I’m just thankful my only involvement with him for this class is writing the check to pay for it, and it’s a six month class, which he’s trying to do in three months so I only have to write one check, not two.  He’s so thoughtful.

One day at a time, I say.  Just takin’ it one day at a time.

(PS - the photo is of some of the kids in the debate class I teach.  We all went to Lights of Christmas together on Thursday and some of them interviewed the talking Christmas tree - Bruce the Spruce.)

A Time of Thanks and Giving

I’ve been feeling a sense of urgency lately.  The feeling keeps getting confirmed via different sources.  Even our pastor’s sermon yesterday was about living our lives as if it were the last two minutes in the game.  It seems football players focus and play harder in those last minutes than they do the rest of the game.  I guess having my friend JaRon die recently helps put things in perspective.  Like, what am I doing with my life that matters, anyway?  I’m on this weekly routine that just wears me out, but then I tell myself the purpose of my life right now is to raise Kaleb, and his life requires routine.  I have a feeling I should be doing more for God or others or even myself, but then I bounce back with the idea that even if all I do outside the routine is scrub toilets, and I do it with a thankful heart, then I am doing it for God since it’s an act of service to others.  I was in this weird place even before Saturday, when we found out Kory has angina pain again, which is NOT a good sign.

I know God allows us to go through these “refining fires” just to see how we come out on the other end.  I hope I pass this test because there is nothing I can do about Kory’s heart but pray and trust God for the outcome, even if it means by-pass surgery is in the near future.  Whatever I need to get through this, God will provide, I’m certain of that, as I’ve seen just how His grace has sustained JaRon’s family after she died.  We had a great Thanksgiving with them all and it wasn’t sad one little bit.  Life goes on and we are just thankful for the time we get with those we love, even if it is shorter than what we would like. 

At our home fellowship group last night I asked a question that I really intended just for myself – “What Christmas present am I giving God this year?”  What does He need or want?  Does He want us to share the gospel?, encourage a believer?, spend time alone with Him?, be nice to a stranger?  All gifts we give each other are just symbolic and temporary, but what we give to God is eternal.  I don’t want to miss out on giving as many gifts as I can, so if I don’t get all the presents wrapped, or any Christmas baking done, or even if the Christmas cards don’t make it in the mail on time, it’s okay with me, if the reason is because I was busy giving gifts that matter.  I’m playing in the last two minutes of the game, and love always wins out.

Sad, Sad, Sad.

My friend, JaRon Snow died last Wednesday.  She was my age, mother of three, wife of a godly man and the only child of our beloved Grammy J.  There really is no way to make sense out of it, even though we saw it coming.  Cancer is an ugly thing, and it has taken yet another one of my dear friends.  I hate that she had to suffer and I wonder if that isn't God's way of making it easier to say goodbye, because we all wanted her to be free from the pain.

Her family is doing about as well as any family can be doing at such a time as this.  I stepped into my get-it-done role and offered to write her eulogy, gather old photos and turn it into a slide show production.  I've been consumed for days on end with this process and thanks to other very skilled friends, it's now done.  They are techno geniuses and I couldn't have done it without them.  It's a tribute that captures her essence and portraits her life in a very down to earth way.  I'm proud of it, even though I would do a thousand things differently if I had time to do it over again.  At some point we just have to move on and say it's the best we can do, given the circumstances.

We've spent the last ten years worth of Thanksgivings with the Snows around our dining room table.  I'm not sure what this year will bring, but we must be thankful nonetheless.  We can be thankful that someday we will join her in heaven, we can be thankful that God gave her 12 years in which to raise her kids after her initial diagnosis of breast cancer, before it spread into her bones.  We can be thankful we were part of her life and she a part of ours.  But it won't be the same, this Thanksgiving, or any that follow.  My heart just aches.

I haven't done a good job of maintaining normal life this past week.  We've all been a little off.  Kaleb has been doing nothing but math for ten days straight, trying to finish up his Johns Hopkins math class before his time expired last Saturday.  I offered him a profit sharing bonus if he was able to complete it, as it would have cost nearly seven hundred dollars to finish it if he didn't meet the deadline, so he's been doing math night and day and finished an entire half of the 3 month course in just one week.  It was material he already knew, but he needed to review it before he went on to Honors Algebra.  The course was set up so that he had to do all the exercises before he could take the chapter tests, so he had a lot of calculations to figure out and he got pretty rummy there toward the end.  Monday and Tuesday he just did the final exam, once and then twice, rechecking his answers.  I get tired just watching him.

This past weekend I attended a training class on healing prayer.  There is a group from our church that want to get a prayer team together so we all needed to be on the same page in terms of how to go about it.  Another pastor from a local Covenant church taught it, so we all went, and were blessed by the process.  We have two more weekends to attend before we are officially commissioned as prayer warriors, but I certainly won't wait for that to start praying.  Actually, most of what was taught, I already knew, but it was still time well spent and it's exciting to see how many people want to deepen their prayer life at our church. 

Apparently the extra blood now flowing through Kory's heart hasn't helped his ability to think clearly – either that or his head is just so hard the blood can't go there no matter what.  He was told by his cardiologist to lay low for three days after his stents were put in, not lift anything, and take it easy for about a week.  After the week was over, he could then start to slowly exercise and get back in shape.  Well, against doctor's advice and a screaming wife, he decided after just two days at home he was feeling so good he thought he'd go for a brisk walk and see if he could bring on any angina.  He also lifted some heavy saws and wood and started working on projects.  Up to that point, the place where they inserted the needle in his leg was nearly invisible, with no bruising or swelling, but of course, after his brisk walk and all that lifting, he did some damage.  I think he jostled the plug out of place and his thigh turned black and swelled up with all the blood that was spurting around under his skin.  What was he thinking?  I thought I would have to take him to the ER but we called the consulting nurse, and she said he had to lie down and put ice and pressure on it.  She also told him he wasn't supposed to be that active, and I heard him say something like, “You sound like my wife...”  The next day I could see the bleeding had stopped and the blood was diffusing, but I couldn't get him off the couch for a week.  It scared him a little, but I'm sure it won't do much regarding his ability to listen to his wife.

A few days ago he started putting a new wood floor down in our upstairs kitchen, which is light work since I'm doing all the heavy lifting.  The man goes crazy without a thing to do.  While I appreciate his efforts, and his need to “surprise” me with this project, I question the timing of it right before the holidays – since our upstairs is now a complete wreck and I can’t even get to my auxiliary refrigerator, which I desperately need right now.

But Kory has his good points and while he was lying down recovering from his bleeding leg, he read a book I bought him last year on how to paint watercolors.  Previously he’s only done line drawings, so one day this past week he picked up all the supplies that he needed to do his first water color, which ended up being very professional looking and I'm most impressed.  He just read in a book how to do it and sat down one night and did it.  (See photo of the photo I took he worked from and the water color he made from it below).  That man is talented, and not just in his many ways to infuriate me.  It helps balance the part of him that's difficult to live with.

That’s what’s new in our world.  No one said life was going to be easy.

Miracles and Hallelujahs!

The dreaded day is finally behind me.  Kory had his scheduled angiogram yesterday and I was half expecting him to die on the table, and if not that, then at least need bypass surgery as a result of what they found.  It just seemed too easy and too sweet and not logical at all if all he needed were stents, because we’ve known he’s been 99% blocked in his left main descending artery for over six years.  Time doesn’t really heal those kinds of wounds.  I was preparing for the worst, and just trusting God to hold me up for whatever outcome it would be.  When I woke up yesterday morning I said, ‘OK, God, you promise to be the husband to the widow and the father to the fatherless, so here we go…”  Needless to say, I was sorely mistaken in my expectations for what God had in store and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome.  It was truly miraculous.

I was blessed with the company of some good friends so I didn’t have to sit through the morning alone.  My friend Paula, from Colorado, has been here the last few days so she went with us to the hospital.  Sharon, another friend from church, arrived soon after we did and our friend John (aka, Kaleb’s “personal life coach”) showed up as well.  We passed the hours with all kinds of stories and I’m sure, entertained (and/or annoyed) the others in the waiting room as well.

When the cardiologist came out to tell us all exactly what went on, he kept using the word, “Lucky” over and over again.  “He is a lucky guy…. I was lucky to be able to…. It was lucky this and lucky that…”  I finally had to interrupt him and say, “You may call it ‘lucky,’ but I call it ‘answered prayer.’”  His eyebrows raised and he continued on….  As it turned out, he tried to get a wire into Kory’s artery from one end, but the plaque had calcified so much, the wire just bent and it wouldn’t go in.  He was 100% blocked.  He snaked the wire up over his heart and tried to go in from the other side, but the wire bent again. 100% blocked again.  He said when he sees as much collateral circulation as Kory had, he knew he’d been clogged up for many years and “it’s never a good sign.”  He was sure he’d have to pull out and order up bypass surgery.  But, he said, he saw a little “nipple” on the side of the blocked artery and he thought since he’d tried to get the wire in every way possible and couldn’t, he might just see if there was any chance he’d find a soft spot in that.  It took some finagling to direct the wire to that tiny little spot and when the wire penetrated, he thought it had just punctured through the outside of the artery wall because he couldn’t believe it himself that the wire was able to enter down into the artery since it was so hardened.  It was the miracle of all miracles, right then and there.  He was able to slip in a balloon and stretch out the blockage enough to get two long stents in, side by side, about two and a half inches long.  He seemed genuinely surprised by the whole procedure and especially the outcome.  Me, too!

Sharon, who all morning had been telling me that God told her it was going to be a “Victorious Day,” stood there listening to the doctor with the smuggest smirk on her face and a countenance that just said, “I told you so.”  John reminded me to hug the doctor and Paula and I were shouting “Hallelujah.”  It was surreal.  I had so much adrenalin going through my body I felt like I would melt once I realized he wasn’t going to need bypass surgery.  Being thankful doesn’t even come to close to expressing how I feel even now.  

It’s all been about obedience for me.  We try to listen to the voice of God and obey His leading.  People thought we were crazy to not do any medical intervention all those years ago, but God didn’t lead in that way, until now.  And I still don’t know all the reasons why the wait was important, but I do know that in that time Kory has done a lot of soul searching and changes to his lifestyle.  I know that stents and bypass surgery have a sort of ‘shelf life’ in that they don’t last forever, so maybe it was just to buy extra time before THAT clock started ticking, or maybe we had to wait until we got a surgeon who had the skill (he’s the ‘best’ we’re told) and would hear the nudging of God’s voice to try something out of the ordinary to place a stent.  I’m pretty sure six years ago they would have done a bypass, so I’m thankful we were spared that recovery time.  I’m hoping we never have to face that, but I know if we do, it will be at God’s leading and just like yesterday, he’ll get us through it lickety split.

Kory’s doing well – just lying down for a few days so the plug they put in his leg doesn’t pop out so he won’t bleed to death (yikes.)  He has a lot of color in his face and now I’m hoping his brain starts working again – I’ve blamed many of his lacks in judgment on not getting enough oxygen rich blood to his brain, but maybe now I’ll discover that it’s just the way he is, tee hee.

Everything else that happened this week, pales in comparison.

October Sky

Kory finally had a pain free week and even got a few things done at our apartment building in Seattle and at home, too.  He’s sure a lot more pleasant when he feels good and is able to do things. I’m now preparing for the calm before the storm as we count down the days to his angiogram on Friday.  Lord only knows what life will be like after that.  Hopefully better than ever, but I’m preparing for the worst, just so I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Last Sunday a friend invited me to her family reunion.  I’ve know her so long she considers me family.  We’ve been friends since 1972 and I met all her extended family back in the 70s so it was fun to see them all now, many years later.  As I was talking with her one brother-in-law it seems we both had ancestors that homesteaded near the same small town in North Dakota and also came from the same area in Norway when they emigrated.  I’m sure we are related, probably eighth cousins or something.  I spent some time researching it this week but haven’t found an obvious direct link.  It was too funny to think someone I’ve know for so long could possible share some DNA with me.  It’s such a small world.

Our week has been the usual treadmill routine again but with only a few blips around Kaleb’s attitude toward me.  He was very disrespectful a few times which escalated into some pretty big consequences for him.   I hated that he lost the ability to attend a Harvest Party this weekend, but it sure stopped his unacceptable behavior.  He’s being so challenged in math, piano and science that he’s now at a stage where none of it comes easy –he has to actually WORK at it a little and he doesn’t want to.  He’s used to flying through all his schoolwork quickly without checking for accuracy and doing okay, but now he needs to slow down and double check things.  He pulled his first 100% on a test in chemistry as a result of slowing down, so he saw my reasoning after that.  He’s an A student, but often gets Cs because he’s sloppy.  I hate that.  He hates learning to be disciplined but if he doesn’t get it down now, the sloppy habits will be hard to break. 

I’ll be so thankful when this election is over.  I’m almost to the point of not caring who wins or what initiatives get passed or not, I just want our phone to stop ringing.  We can go weeks around here without a single phone call, but it’s been dozens of calls each day and I’m about to go crazy for all the interruptions.  It gave me great pleasure though to hang up on Barak Obama and James Dobson, even if they were just recorded messages.

There was some good this week, too. I took Kaleb trick-or-treating today to all the businesses in downtown Mount Vernon with his buddy Spencer and family.  Spencer’s dad is a doctor so we talked as we walked around downtown and he asked me who the cardiologist is that is doing Kory’s work on Friday.  I told him and he assured me there is no better doctor for the job, so that was comforting.  He suspects, as do I, that Kory’s mercury toxicity has played a key role in his artery problems.  He also told me a lot of things that were very helpful to know going in to this so I’m thanking God tonight for all the information he shared.  It was very confirming that we are on the right path. 

We had to say goodbye today to the two loveable yellow labs we’ve been dogsitting for two weeks.  I can’t wait to have a clean house again, but it is rather quiet around here now.  Kaleb is grieving their loss.  Kory enjoyed his afternoon walks with them.  Nothing gets us out of the house more than having a big dog around.  They will be missed.

Emotionally this has been a tough week since JaRon, the daughter of our beloved Grammy J, was sent home from the hospital with hospice care.  She’s been fighting bone cancer for the last two years and it’s not going well.  She’s my age, married, and has three kids. We spend our holidays with them so they are our “family of choice” and I hate to see her suffer.  I went down last Sunday to pray with her and she was pretty out of it but when I prayed that the Holy Spirit would show up and comfort her, she opened her eyes, sat up in bed and clearly said, “What was that?” then went right back to her groggy state.  It was comforting in a way to think that God is being very real to her right now.  I asked her what she saw, but she was unable to respond.  I’ve been a wreck all week just thinking about her.  Actually, I’ve been a wreck worrying about Kaleb’s disrespectful behavior and about Kory’s upcoming heart procedure but I try to keep thinking about what JaRon said to me a few weeks ago when I was there visiting her.  “Today is all we have,” she said, “What are you doin’ goin’ around worryin’ about tomorrow?  None of us have tomorrow.  We only have today.”  So, so true.

Falling into Autumn...

I love the many ways God heals people.  Kory’s neck pain started going away after people prayed for him, but his range of motion was still very limited.  As it happened, last Saturday night he was in the basement when Kaleb started playing the piano.  He stuck his upper body (with stiff neck) around the corner of the door to listen to him and when Kaleb was done, Kory forgot that there was a chin-up bar above his head.  He moved back out from the door frame and smacked his head on the chin-up bar.  He heard his neck pop back into place and immediately he had his range of motion back!  So much for chiropractors.  He was shouting Hallelujah all week, and also said a few things about the healing properties of music.  Ha ha.  At least that pain is behind us.  He was feeling so much better that he overdid it on the yard work this week though, so then the arthritis in his wrists started giving him fits.  I swear, he’s just one medical condition after another.

We both went to meet with a cardiologist this week to get an angiogram scheduled.  Kory will go into Providence Everett Medical Center on November 5^th.  If all he needs are stents, he’ll get those that day and stay overnight and be home Saturday.  It’s only a few days recovery from that procedure, but I’m bracing for the fact he may need bypass surgery, which hopefully will happen before Thanksgiving.  I’m not ordering a turkey just yet.  Our plans for next month will have to be pretty flexible based on what happens with him.  I just have to trust God things will work out.  “Not my will, but thine be done.” 

Kaleb cranked it pretty hard on school work this week and did fairly well steering his own ship. He perplexes me, though.  He can remember that “nitrite is the polyatomic ion represented by the formula NO2” for his science class but he can’t remember to carry over a number for a simple math problem.  I wrote to his math teacher that he really does understand complex algebraic formulas, but he often gets them wrong because he goofs up on the simplest part of the math equation.  She wrote back that, “There are three types of mathematicians – those who can count, and those who can’t.”   I guess he’s in good company.  He’s decided he doesn’t like math, so I’m sure that’s why he doesn’t pay attention to the details, but he loves his chemistry class and is downright freaky in his understanding of which orbit the d level of an atom does something or another.  I’ve watched the lectures and I still don’t get it, but he’s fascinated by the stuff he’s learning, so I’m thankful for the online courses that Johns Hopkins has available.  He’s doing okay in speech, writing and piano, too.

We’ve had two loveable yellow labs in our house all week and yesterday Kaleb seriously complained that he thought I love on them more than him.  He’s been butting in between my lips and their noses whenever I get down on the floor with them.  I guess this is what sibling rivalry looks like.  Good thing he’s an only child. 

With the current school schedule, when I’m not herding Kaleb around, I’m preparing for the classes I teach and things I lead.  I’m not getting nearly as much time to sit and write as I hoped I would this Fall, but I squeeze it in where I can.  I had three articles written for my weekly column, then my laptop died.  I got a note from the guy trying to repair it – hoping I might recover some of the data, and all he said was, “Let’s have a moment of silence for your hard drive.”  I had to rewrite the columns.  At least they are still in demand.  The editor of the LaConner newspaper this week offered to start paying me for them, but I passed.  I don’t want it to seem like “work.”  

We headed out to the pumpkin patch a few times this week, just to get in the mood for Fall.  We live near one of the best pumpkin patches in the Northwest and every year I go, I can’t help but take dozens of photos.  We went again today as Kaleb had a buddy over all day and they had a blast playing hide and seek in the corn maze.  I love our life in the country. 

A Painful Week

The stiff-necked Kory was around for a solid five days, crying off and on from the pain.  The x-rays showed he has three bone spurs and some degenerative stuff going on.  The muscles in his neck were too stiff so the chiropractor was unable to do anything most of the week.  Even with aspirin, ice, muscle relaxers and my prayers, nothing helped.  He was immobile and whining from Monday to Friday and I nearly lost my mind.  There was nothing that stopped his pain, no position to be free from it, and of course my lack of sympathy made things worse.  I had to school Kaleb all week again, which wears me down on a whole other level, so it hasn’t been too fun around our house lately.

I finally got wise Friday night and posted a notice to all my “friends” on Facebook, asking for prayer for Kory and when he woke up Saturday, he actually felt better!  Why I didn’t think of that sooner, I have no idea.  The Bible says the “prayers of the righteous availeth much” so apparently I’m not righteous enough, but my friends sure are because he is finally on the road to recovery!  Hallelujah!  At least he can move without crying out in pain.  His neck is still very stiff, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Now we get to deal with his heart.

Kory has an upcoming appointment on Wednesday with a cardiologist, as God indeed confirmed that he should do something medically to help his clogged arteries.  I’m sure an angiogram will be ordered shortly thereafter and we’ll know then whether stents will fix his problem or if he’ll need by-pass surgery.  He’s confident he’ll only need a stent or two -  I’m think he’ll need a multiple by-pass, but only God knows, and what happens, happens.  We are both at peace with it and I’m going to have to count on friends and family to get me through, as I surely can’t homeschool Kaleb every day while dealing with Kory in any kind of recovery mode.  My gifting is not in the nurturing department, and Kory is a pathetic patient.  I’m not thinking God’s been preparing me to take care of Kory with his recent neck problem, bladder problem, kidney problem, back problem…. I’m thinking I’m worn out already and need to call for backup.  I’m thankful I have friends.

Our weekly routine was pretty routine and on the mark.  The only difference this week was that I did double time with Kaleb and we dog sat.  We had Kaleb’s favorite dog, Kitty, for two days and then Friday we got his other two favorite yellow labs, Penny and Luna.  They will be with us for two weeks and if Kaleb does all their care, it’s no problem to have them here, but he’s already been gone this weekend to a junior high retreat so I’ve been up before dawn to walk them and they stick to me like Velcro.  I haven’t yet figured out how to teach them to sleep in or to stick to Kaleb.  They are no respecters of weekend hours, that’s for sure.

Kory drove his 1963 Studebaker Avanti up here to Mount Vernon for the winter so he can work on it a little.  It’s been in the garage at our apartment building in Seattle for over twenty years and he takes it for a spin every now and then when he’s down there.  We used to go on all our dates in that car before we were married, but things seem to change dramatically after the wedding.  This weekend was sunny enough and Kory finally felt good enough to take the car for a spin so we’ve been cruising around the Skagit Valley a little remembering what life was like before we were married.  I forgot how fun that car is.  It’s helped Kory’s spirits too, as he feels 21 when he steps on the accelerator, and that takes him back to his care-free single days, which always plasters a smile on his face. 

Kaleb is now home from a successful weekend camp retreat.  He’s tired, but he had a wonderful time, which erased all the bad memories of his summer camp experience, so I’m thankful to God for that. And now a new week unfolds (see photo of this morning’s sunrise) with all it’s predictability, and my prayer is God prepares us for what we don’t have planned.

Back Home Again

As my friend Janet says, “If you live long enough, something’s gonna get ya.”  So for Kory, now, it seems, his time has come.  Apparently he has lived more than one lifetime, as things are “gettin’ him” right and left.  The bladder infection he battled a few weeks ago went into hiding while he was on some antibiotics, then came back with a vengeance once he stopped taking them.  Unfortunately, the infection went into his kidneys, so he was one sick puppy for most of last week – running a fever and plagued with chills, headache and no appetite.  By Wednesday afternoon he was sick of being sick and went to the doctor and got some major antibiotics to kill the infection before it killed him.  I had to pick up the slack with Kaleb’s school work as Kory couldn’t get off the couch all week, so I’m already feeling somewhat burned out and we just got back from vacation!

The week was in full swing with routine activities that now define our existence.  Sunday I facilitated our home fellowship group where we planned ways our kids can raise money to buy food for hungry children in Africa.  An organization called “Children of the Nations” has a cool program where they deliver all the bulk food to an organization and let those that raised the money, assemble the food packets.  Each bag contains a complete protein (rice, lentils, dried veggies, broth and spices) and when mixed with six cups of hot water, makes enough food to feed six kids.  It only costs a quarter, so all our kids are excited about the opportunity to make a difference in other kids’ lives. Every time Kaleb earns money now, he takes the 25% he gives to “God,” multiplies it by four (based on a quarter per food packet), then multiplies it again by six (based on how many it will feed), and proudly spouts off just how many meals he has earned.  I like the way he thinks.  So far he’s set aside over a hundred dollars for this program, and he’s far from being done.  We assemble the packets in December.

The Destination Imagination class I’m teaching on Mondays is a big hit with the eight boys on our team.  They will compete regionally in March and if they are good enough, will go to State competitions in April.  They are pumped up and full of creativity and excitement so it’s fun to facilitate this afterschool activity.  They get challenges that seem impossible to do, but their little brains come up with the most clever solutions with just the materials they’ve been given.  They like building towers and bridges the best, but they also do impromptu dramas and problem solving.  It’s the ultimate team building activity, and that’s why I do it – because Kaleb needs to know he is not an island.

Last Tuesday, after I drove Kaleb to Mill Creek to meet with his “personal life coach,” we continued on into Seattle to take our beloved Grammy J out to dinner for her 74^th birthday (without Kory due to aforementioned ailments.)  We ate at a restaurant down by the water’s edge and watched the sky as God painted a luscious sunset as a special gift to us all (see photo), but Janet felt especially touched by His handiwork.  Her daughter, JaRon is back in the hospital again, fighting bone cancer, so it’s been a tough week for her.  She’s an amazing woman who sees beauty and God’s hand in everything around her, even in the midst of trials.  We just love our Grammy J and we treasure any and all time we get to spend with her.

Wednesday was significant because it was the first day of Confirmation class.  Our church has a two year confirmation program for middle schoolers, so the time has come for Kaleb to attend.  There are thirty Confirmation students, seventh and eighth graders – and of the nineteen incoming students, Kaleb attended pre-school with seven of them.  It’s too weird to think they were all toddlers together and now they are being ushered into the teenage years together.  Childhood is but a flash. 

Thursday I taught the debate portion of a speech class for a group of homeschool kids, Kaleb being one of them.  I introduced the idea of formal versus informal logic, deductive reasoning versus inductive reasoning.  I asked for examples of each from the dozen kids there and when I asked specifically about deductive logic, Kaleb raised his hand and said, “Well, it’s kind of like that quote from Michelangelo when he said he just chips away everything from the stone, that isn’t the statue.”  The speech teacher and I just stared at each other with the look that says, “Where does that kid come up with this stuff?”  I was so impressed with his ability to process that concept into some applicable.  He really does scare me sometimes.

Kory was feeling well enough to go with Kaleb to Friday School (a homeschool co-op) on Friday morning so I got the house to myself and enjoyed the peace and quiet.  It’s funny because sometimes I freak out thinking I might out live Kory, and Kaleb will be grown and gone one day, and I’ll be rattling around in the house all by myself and that thought sickens me, but when I can grab a few hours alone NOW, it’s actually quite pleasant.  I was able to work on a Bible study and have some alone time with God.  Kaleb went home with a pal after Friday School for nearly eight hours so he got to skip the rest of his school day, only to have to make it up on Sunday.  It was worth it.

Saturday was a glory day for all of us as Kaleb was invited to an awards ceremony sponsored by Johns Hopkins University (see photo).  They make a big deal out of the kids that score well on their standardized tests – so we dressed up and headed down to Seattle Pacific University to watch him receive his certificate.  He’s actually gotten one before, but we were gone for the ceremony so they just mailed it, which doesn’t have nearly the same effect.  The speech they gave was very inspirational and I think Kaleb was a bit surprised by all the hoopla – being called “the brightest and best” and the “future leaders of America.”  I wish I would have recorded that speech. 

One of our favorite fall and winter routines is to make soup for Saturday night and have our neighbor, Joan, come over and play cribbage with us while we slurp down the soup.  We started that routine back up again this week, so our world is getting very familiar, if not a little hectic.  The pattern is pretty well set for several months now, as the calendar has the same events written on it week after week.  The only difference will be what ails Kory.  This morning he woke up with a stiff neck and can’t turn his head without screaming.  He went to the chiropractor, but couldn’t get an adjustmenty, so hopefully tomorrow will be better.  Kory is miserable to be around when he’s in pain, so we do our best to avoid him.  Our life may be routine, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.